MIGUEL GARCIA AND FELIPE BOUZA AND CHARLIE WILLIAMS, PETITIONERS,
v.
THE HONORABLE LEONARD RIVKIND, CHIEF JUDGE OF THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA, AND THE HONORABLE HARVEY RUVIN, CLERK OF THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENTS
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The court granted mandamus to quash administrative orders establishing a domestic violence division in county court because such specialized divisions require approval by local rule under the Florida Constitution and statutes, not administrative order alone.
Administrative orders establishing a specialized domestic violence division of trial courts are invalid without approval by local rule under article V, section 7 of the Florida Constitution and section 43.30 of the Florida Statutes.
[1] Specialized subject matter divisions of trial courts must be established by local rule approved by the supreme court under Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.050(…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThree defendants in county court prosecutions for simple battery involving domestic violence sought mandamus to set aside Administrative Orders 92-48 …
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PER CURIAM.
The petitioners, who are defendants in county court prosecutions for simple battery which involve domestic violence, seek the issuance of writ of mandamus requiring the respondent chief judge of the Eleventh Circuit to set aside Administrative Orders 92-48 and 92-49. We grant the petitions.
The orders in question purported to establish a domestic violence “department” of the Criminal Division of the Dade County Court, to which the petitioners’ cases are assigned, and the Family Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. It is obvious that, however denominated, they create a specialized subject matter-related division of the trial courts which, under article V, section 7, Florida Constitution, and section 43.30, Florida Statutes, may be accomplished only by local rule, duly approved by the supreme court in accordance with Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.050(e)(1). Administrative Order, Fourth Judicial Circuit (Division of Courts), 378 So. 2d 286 (Fla.1979); In re Report of the Comm’n on Family Courts, 588 So. 2d 586 (Fla.1991); see State ex rel. Zuberi v. Brinker, 323 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). Compare Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.050(b)(3) & (4). Mandamus is granted and the administrative orders under review are therefore quashed.
To avoid disruption in the judicial administration of the courts in Dade County, by permitting application for the adoption of an appropriate local rule on the subject, we withhold issuance of the peremptory writ and allow the orders to remain in effect for thirty days, and thereafter for such time as the supreme court may allow.
Mandamus granted.
JORGENSON and GODERICH, JJ., concur.
SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge
(dissenting in part).
In view of the obvious invalidity of the rules before us, and the failure to take appropriate steps to correct this situation before now, I see no reason to delay issuance of the preemptory writ. I would invalidate the rules forthwith and order that the petitioners’ cases be reassigned according to the blind filing system.
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In re Report of the Comm'n on Fam. Courts, 646 So. 2d 178 (Fla. 1994)…ative orders, which established domestic violence departments within both the family law and county court criminal divisions. Those administrative orders, however, were subsequently quashed by the Third District Court of Appeal in Garcia v. Rivkind, 639 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). In Garcia, the district court determined that the Eleventh Circuit had unconstitutionally created a new domestic violence “division” in violation of article V, section 7, of the Florida Constitution, and section 43.30, Florida St…
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Hartley v. State, 650 So. 2d 1044 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)…ministrative orders. Our analysis leads us to conclude that the designation of a special court to exclusively handle habitual felony cases constitutes a subject matter related division which must be accomplished by local rule. In Garcia v. Rivkind, 639 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), the third district held that the Eleventh Judicial Circuit could not establish separate domestic violence departments within the criminal division of the county court and family division of the circuit court by administrative ord…
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Rivkind v. Garcia, 650 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 1995)…PER CURIAM. We have for review Garcia v. Rivkind, 639 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. The issues in this cause are now moot in view of our order in Local Rule to Establish Domestic Violence Court in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, No. 84,292 (Fla. Oct. 11, 199…
Authorities Cited
- In re Report of the Comm'n on Fam. Courts, 588 So. 2d 586 (Fla. 1991)
- Administrative Order, 378 So. 2d 286 (Fla. 1979)
- State of Fla. ex rel. Amidi Zuberi v. Brinker, 323 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)